-This is gonna bring new meaning
to "System of a Down."
[ Metal music playing ]
[ Tires screech and bones crack ]
[ Grunts ]
-[ Singing ] Take a sip from your soul
On a metaphysical milkshake
-I told you I wanted you on my show.
I wanted you on "Metaphysical Milkshake."
You were like, "No, no, no."
So, I had to run you over to get you here.
-It's okay. I like being run over.
-Welcome to the back of my van, Serj Tankian.
-It's good to be in the back of your van, Mr. Rainn.
-As you know, it's a magical van.
Where would you like to go today?
-Uh, let's go to the Island of Dust.
-Yeah, that looks -- that looks pretty dusty.
-Yeah. But it's an island.
So, it's, you know, it's dusty,
but it's surrounded by [ British accent ] water.
-[ British accent ] Water. -Water.
-[ Normal voice ] Can I tug on your little billy-goat beard?
-Sure.
As long as you pretend to be the Dalai Lama after.
-Did he tug on your beard? -He walked into the room.
I was there with a couple of artist friends.
And the first thing he did was just smile,
laugh, came, saw my face,
grabbed my little goatee and started playing with it.
And he goes, "I want one. I want like that, too."
And just, like, my cousin's kids.
They're like, "Aah!"
-So basically, it's been me, the Dalai Lama,
and your cousin's kids. -Pretty much.
-And I imagine your wife when she's really mad at you.
-Uh, when she's happy with me. -Oh!
[ Singing ] The toxicity of our city!
How do you write a song? -It's kind of like play time.
The best way to write a song
is to not actually think about writing a song.
It's to pick up an instrument and just have fun.
And when you do, generally, something just comes through.
-So, you get yourself into the state of almost a child,
just like, "I'm gonna just goof around,"
and then inspiration flows through you somehow.
-Exactly.
And the muse is there for all of us
to kind of download, if you will.
-What is the muse?
-Um, it is the collective consciousness' art wing.
-[ Laughs ]
So, the collective consciousness...
-Has an art wing.
-As spoken of by Carl Jung, is out there.
And then there's a wing that is the art wing.
-And that's the muse.
-And that flows through people that are open to it.
-Inspiration. It doesn't have to be art.
It's actually inspirational wing.
-There's something really interesting about that,
because it takes you and your ego
and your will out of the equation.
-As artists, we can never take total credit for our art,
because it's beyond us.
It comes from beyond us.
I think art and music have, besides entertainment value,
have this incredible illustrative
and narrative value.
In terms of the times that we live in, the truths
that we can expose, the things
that we can relate to and inspire, co-inspire.
Be inspired by something, inspire something else,
get inspired by -- you know.
You're inspiring and being inspired simultaneously.
-I love that "co-inspire," because you know,
"inspire" literally comes from "to breathe."
Like, to in-spire.
You know, that inspiration comes from the Latin "to breathe."
And "co-inspire" is like a group of people,
like, breathing together.
-And it's also the spirit, right?
In-spire.
-We pretty much figured out what art is.
-That's it. We can go home now.
-In the back of a van.
We should just shut up right now.
-Yeah, that's it. We're done.
-Don't say any more. Stop talking.
Whoever talks first loses.
-You did. -I di-- You did!
Ah! No, no!
'Cause I was setting the parameters.
-By saying the parameter --
[ Singing from Led Zeppelin "Immigrant Song" ] Ahhhhh!
-Wow.
-It's good, right? -You were great.
-You've got a new album out. What is it?
-Yes, I do. It's called "Harakiri." Hai!
-[ Grunts ]
Why would you name an album after ritualized suicide?
-If you remember back in early 2011,
we were experiencing all the death
of bird and fish around the planet,
and it's still happening until today.
I could not understand, reasonably, how these beings
that were so well-connected to nature,
why would they either decide to leave en masse,
or were given a sign to leave?
And I thought of the word "harakiri."
Because it's a respectful form of deciding to leave this place.
And it's also a symbolism
for what we're unconsciously doing on our own planet.
-Wow. That's some deep...
Okay, lightning round.
Life's big questions. Serj Tankian.
Beatles or The Rolling Stones? -Beatles.
-Why do we hate?
-Because we don't feel
the interconnectivity of all things.
Otherwise, it would just be us that we're hating.
-Do we need religion?
-Organized, no. Disorganized, yes.
-What life's big question do you struggle with the most?
-"What now?"
-How do you ask the universe "what next" or "what now?"
-I usually do it in the mornings.
I sit down, blank out my mind,
and I ask for guidance every day to find my vision,
to give me the strength for compassion,
for patience, for wisdom.
And then I get out,
and I run on a treadmill until my head falls off.
-I heard in an interview with you,
you had the craziest but simplest and best idea
about taxes or tax reform.
-Oh, right, right. -What's your tax idea, again?
-You know, when we're filling out our tax returns,
we should just be able to check off
where we want that money to be spent.
-People that are really into the military,
you can donate money to the military.
And people that are old
and really care about Social Security and Medicare
and want all their money to go to Social Security and Medicare.
-Exactly. You'll know, as a democracy,
how many people want to spend on defense,
how many people want to spend on education.
-Right.
What's this organization you have with Tom Morello?
-It's called Axis of Justice, and we started it in 2002.
It's an organization
that brings together fans of music, activists,
and artists to fight for social change.
-Why all this activism?
Why not just sit back and relax
and enjoy what you have
and your great musical career?
-I was an activist before being a musician.
Growing up in Los Angeles,
growing up in the Armenian community in Los Angeles,
and realizing the hypocrisy
of the denial of the Armenian genocide
in a well-known democracy such as the U.S.
made me really kind
of open my eyes to all of these truths
that are out there that are still not recognized
for either political expediency or any other reason.
And that made me an activist.
And I've always had a penchant for justice.
That's really it. -Can politics
really make the world a better place anymore?
-No. People can, politics can't.
-So, what's a cause that you care about?
What's a cause that you would like
to share to get other young people involved in?
Put it in the comment section below.
Serj and I -- I'm gonna drag him over like this
and make him read every comment right here
on the SoulPancake comment section.
Let's talk about a cause you care about.
What do you want to get involved in?
What would you like to see other young people get involved with?
Involved waaaa.
-Laaah.
-Laaaaaah.
Go! Do it! Comment! Now!
-[ Singing ] The toxicity of our city!
-That felt so good.